Well Of Course it Hurts!

A co-worker of mine recently poked his head in my office. Ok, he was more than a co-worker, he was my IT guy. My IT guy has got to be the most patient man in the world. I know nothing about html, microsoft office, or many other basic skills that my resume says I do.

Anyway, this co-worker stands around 6′5 and used to play basketball at the University of Central Arkansas. His current way of staying competitive is by coaching his daughter’s softball team. As he is a big guy, the little ones apparently love for him to pick them up, toss them in the air, and then catch them before they hit the ground. I’m assuming he has a high success rate with the catching.

When he came into my office, though, he was having a hard time going from a sitting to standing position and vice-versa. “My back has been killing me, man,” he said. “Last night I could hardly sleep.”

As it turned out, he had previously tweaked his hamstring.  Now, boys and girls, this is a great time for an anatomy and physiology lesson. As the hamstrings and lower back muscles both connect to the pelvic region, its inevitable that they must work together. When one of these muscles is weak, the other will be affected. And when you think about the movement that my IT was doing (bending down to pick up a small tyke, then swiftly exploding upwards), that involves a lot of hip action. When he bent down, the hips flexed and went backwards, causing the top of the hamstrings and the lower back muscles to stretch. The upward movement, then, consisted of rapid extension of the hips and flexion of the lower back muscles and the top of the hamstring. Because his hamstring was previously injured, it couldn’t fire as quickly. This put added stress on his lower back muscles  that would usually be absorbed by his hamstrings.

The body was put together quite well. It works together to accomplish its goals. And while this is true of internal body systems, its certainly true of the musculoskeletal system. My IT guy’s inconvenience provides us with great insight into how we should train our bodies.

1. Train Functionally - People ask me all the time why I do such “crazy” lifts like dumbbell snatch, overhead swings, etc. I hope instances like my IT guy encountered explain in full detail why I train that way…because we move that way in real life.

2. Train Holistically - My IT guy is now injured in both his upper and lower body segments. He got that way from one swift movement. This goes along with functional training - it’s crucial to train total body. Gym rats of all ages and sexes neglect their lower body. Don’t do it! Don’t neglect any part of your body. Here’s a basic rule to live by: if it moves without pain, train it to move more.